Turning, I walked into my mother’s arms next. She held me and whispered she loved me, and I had to fight to hold back the onslaught of tears.
When I stepped away, my mother let out a quick breath. “Well, your father brought the trunk down that had everything of yours in it. Most of it came from Nolan’s house and Amanda’s room.”
I nodded. “I think we should take it back.”
They both looked at me with a befuddled expression. “Take it back?”
I nodded. “Yes. I think Nolan and I need to decide what to do with Amanda’s things together.”
A tear slipped down my mother’s cheek. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Linnzi.”NolanWHEN I GOT out of the truck, Duke came running over to me. I dropped down and let him give me his greetings.
“How was the flight back?” Truitt asked as he stood at the base of the porch steps.
“Uneventful.”
“Are you back for good?” he asked.
I nodded. “I agreed to do some consulting work for both the Air Force and NASA, so I’ll most likely be heading out every so often, but I don’t think it will be anything too bad.”
Truitt nodded.
“Where’s Belle?” I asked, glancing around.
“In the house, crashed in the kitchen. Duke wore her out.”
Laughing, I patted Duke on the side and stood. “Thank you for picking them up from Amy and Steve’s, Truitt. I just didn’t want to see anyone before I saw Linnzi.”
“Of course. Have you heard from her?”
I couldn’t help the smile on my face as I thought about her last few text messages to me. “Yes. I told her I would call when I got back into town. She told me Ryan helped her out.”
Truitt nodded. “Yeah, he told me as well. I did give him a fair warning that you would possibly kick his ass when you found out he knew where she was and didn’t say anything.”
I laughed. “He already called me and explained. I told him I would have done the same thing.”
“You’re not upset with Saryn either, then?”
With a shake of my head, I opened up the back door of my truck and grabbed a box. “Nah, man. I’m not upset with anyone. Linnzi needed her space to get her thoughts and feelings in check. I can’t blame her for that.”
“Let me grab a box.”
“You don’t have to,” I said as I watched him quickly walk up and grab another box out of the back of the truck.
“I know I don’t have to, I want to.”
Smiling, I said, “Thanks.”
After we carried all the boxes and both of my suitcases in, I stood in the living room. “It feels weird to know I’m here for good.”
Truitt gave me a quick slap on the back. “I, for one, am glad to have you home, Nolan. I’m going to take off, so you can call Linnzi. I’m sure she’s waiting for you.”
“Thanks for everything, Truitt.”
“When you and Linnzi are ready, Saryn and I would like to have you over for dinner.”
I pushed my hands into the front pockets of my jeans and nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll, um, I’ll walk you to the door.”
When I opened the front door for Truitt, he turned back and gave me a warm smile. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good.”
He opened his mouth to say something, most likely reading my face and seeing in my eyes that I was far from good. But instead of speaking, he hit me on the side of the arm and walked away.
“Later,” I called out as he got to the bottom step and jogged out to his truck. Then he tripped and nearly busted his ass, which made me laugh. A part of me wondered if he did it on purpose, but then this was Truitt we were talking about. That was just him. He rounded his truck and gave me one last wave before he climbed in and pulled off down the driveway.
With a sigh, I shut the door and walked back into the living room, surveying all the boxes Truitt helped me carry in. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with unpacking. I glanced down to Duke. “Where’s Belle?”
He looked around, and I headed to the kitchen. She wasn’t in there, and now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen her since I got home.
“Hell, I hope she didn’t get out when we were moving stuff in.”
Duke barked, and suddenly, there was Belle. Running out of the pantry and straight to me. I couldn’t help but laugh as I reached down and picked her up. “Hey, sweetheart. I bet your mommy misses you.”
My chest ached suddenly, and I had the most overwhelming need to head upstairs. I placed Belle down and pulled out my phone and stared at it. I needed to call Linnzi, but I also needed to take care of something else first.